Residents want more access to Plum Tree Island

POQUOSON — A small group of residents from Poquoson and York gathered last week to share their vision for Plum Tree Island National Wildlife Refuge with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The majority of the residents at the meeting wanted to see more public access to the island. The only public use currently allowed is waterfowl hunting on Cow Island. The rest of the island is closed to the public.

Andy Hoffman, manager of the Eastern Virginia Rivers National Wildlife Refuge Complex which includes Plum Tree Island, said one of the biggest obstacles limiting public use of the refuge is unexploded ordnance left from when the U.S. Air Force operated the property as a bombing range from 1917-1959. Plum Tree Island was established as a refuge in 1972.

Hoffman said the Army Corps of Engineers is currently conducting a remedial investigation to determine the extent of ordnance on the island. Hoffman said some ordnance may not be removed because any attempt to remove it could destroy the habitat.

Several of the residents said they were frustrated with inconsistencies in the enforcement of a danger zone around portions of the refuge that extend 300 feet into the waters of the Back River and Chesapeake Bay that prohibits any type of subsurface bottom disturbance.

Poquoson resident Brian Watkins said commercial fisherman are allowed to fish inside the danger zone while licensed fishermen and hunters are not. Other local residents said they wanted to see more hunting and fishing access around the refuge.

Poquoson resident Frank Rezek said he wanted to see more trails and learning stations at the refuge.

The Fish and Wildlife Service held two public meetings last week at Poquoson City Hall to get public input for a new Comprehensive Conservation Plan which sets management goals for the refuge for the next 15 years.

A draft of the plan is tentatively scheduled to be released to the public next spring with final adoption of the document scheduled for fall of 2013.